Pre school math

Preschool Math Activities - Stay at Home Educator

Developing mathematics skills begin long before children enter formal schooling. This is why choosing out which preschool math activities to include in your lesson plans are all the more important.

In fact, preschool and toddler aged children are constantly playing with math. They naturally sort and organize. They build and design. These are mathematical skills children have a natural interest in and their beginning development comes through the very natural act of playing.

It is all good and well to say that math skills develop naturally, but young children also benefit from purposeful preschool math activities.

This article is all about how to teach math to toddlers and preschoolers.

The 5 Disciplines of Preschool Math Activities Instruction

Teaching math to preschoolers isn’t about doing endless preschool math worksheets. Learning activities should be hands-on and engaging, while targeting important number skills.

But preschool mathematics is more than just teaching counting and number identification. There are five disciplines in mathematics, which are taught in the following units:

Number Sense

Graphing
Measurement
Patterning
Shapes
Sorting

Wondering What to Teach in Preschool Math?

Not sure what math skills you should include in your preschool math lesson plans? Or what kind of preschool math activities you should include? Grab a free checklist below.

How to Teach Math to Preschoolers

Young children love to play with mathematics, and through play is where some of the strongest mathematical connections will be made. These connections will provide them with the right foundation to learn formal math with ease.

Unfortunately, many elementary-aged children claim they hate math!

So this begs us to ask a question of ourselves as parents and teachers: What has happened to their enjoyment and confidence? Where has the joy gone? The joy they used to experience when building math skills?

And then we ask…what math activities for preschoolers are the most important? Am I planning the right preschool math activities so my students experience joy and excitement when learning math?

The early years allow children to explore mathematics in a natural way. Through hands-on activities and play! Through preschool math games, too!

Think of the toddler who lines up his tractors in a neat row, or sorts her snack crackers by color. Or the preschooler who turns a puzzle piece to find the right fit or uses blocks to build a tower in increments of two. These are examples of preschool math activities that naturally occur in early childhood.

They are playful but purposeful. And meaningful, too.

And it is through purposeful and active lessons that preschoolers can be taught a strong foundation in all five disciplines in math.

The Five Disciplines of Math Explained

All mathematics skills are summed up into five disciplines or domains. They are not just for high school students, or middle school, or just for elementary students. The five disciplines of math also apply to preschoolers.

It may sound intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. The instruction in all five disciplines is absolutely necessary to give preschoolers the best beginning possible in mathematics. They are:

Number Sense
Algebra
Geometry
Measurement
Data Analysis

You might be thinking, “Seriously, I supposed to teach algebra to preschoolers?!”

Well, yes, but if you stop to think about it, teaching all five disciplines is easier than you think. And it is easy to make it developmentally appropriate for preschoolers, too! And, it is completely necessary for a complete and well-rounded preschool education.

What the Five Disciplines of Math Look Like in Preschool

Think about it like this: the following are some basic strands within each discipline.

counting, number identification, addition and subtraction ( number sense)
patterns, comparing and sorting (algebra)
shape identification, shape differentiation (geometry)
comparing sizes, lengths and weights (measurement)
graphing, simple estimation (data analysis)

To learn more about each domain, and to see way preschool math activities that fit within each, click the following links:

Number Sense Activities for preschoolers

Algebra Activities for preschoolers
Geometry Activities for preschoolers
Measurement Activities for preschoolers
Data Analysis Activities for preschoolers

Did You Grab your FREE Preschool Math Skills Checklist?

Take the guesswork out of how to teach math with this free preschool math skills checklist. Just click the image and a pdf will be sent to your email.

Printable Math Centers for the Entire Year

Having printable number cards, play dough mats, and other number activities for the entire year makes planning your preschool math centers even easier! Practice number matching and identification along with fine motor skills.

Free Printable Math Activities for Preschoolers

6 Preschool Math Activities: Numbers, Counting, and Beyond!

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Teaching Tips

January 27, 2020

10 mins

We are all familiar with the core areas of learning: “Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic”, or more recently, the focus on the STEM and STEAM initiatives. These are meant to remind us of the basic skills that students need to be taught in school. These skills even need to be taught to the littlest learners: preschoolers! But, how much attention beyond rote counting is really given to math in preschool?

Well, according to one study, only 58 seconds per day was spent on math in preschools with six-hour days. Likewise, a 2017 study by Vanderbilt University education professor Dale Farran found that math was only taught intentionally 2.5 percent of the day in her study of preschool classrooms. However, they found that increasing the amount of time children spend engaged in math from 2 percent to just 4 percent led to significant math gains.

Why so little time devoted to math? Could it be for those of us who teach preschool children, just the mere thought of MATH makes us feel a little woozy? (I know this happens to me!) When we think of math, we conjure up thoughts of high school geometry or calculus and feel intimidated as to where to even begin with Pre-K children. But, keep in mind this is Pre-K, and I have no doubt that each and every one of us should be confident that we can do Pre-K math!

Being confident is a first step, but we also need to make sure we are equipped with an understanding of what Pre-K children need to know and how to best teach them. We are all aware that just singing the ABCs does not teach our children how to read. Likewise, it is important to keep in mind that rote counting of the 123s does not teach our children anything more than a list of number words in order. We must intentionally teach children what those numbers mean (number sense)—and more!

Math skills as predictor for later life success

Why is teaching math to preschool children so important? First, it has been found that math skills can be a predictor for later-life success—more so than reading. In "School Readiness and Later Achievement," a widely cited 2007 study by education professor Greg Duncan found that "early math concepts, such as knowledge of numbers and ordinality, were the most powerful predictors of later learning" in a comparison of math, literacy, and social-emotional skills at kindergarten entry.

Math encourages creative thinking and problem solving

Secondly, if we keep in mind that math provides the basis for vital skills later in life, this may lessen the intimidation factor of math. It’s obvious we need math in daily life for budgeting, to double or halve a recipe, or determine if we receive the correct change at a store. But a strong math foundation also provides skills for problem-solving and critical-thinking that are vital to success and safety in all aspects of our life. According to Dr. Jie-Qi (Jackie) Chen, professor of Child Development at the Erikson Institute, “Developing a mentally organized way of thinking is critical.” To make that happen, Chen says, “We need to provide high-quality math education at an early age.”

Investing time and effort in teaching preschool children math is extremely important, but what skills do we teach and where do we begin? To best support the development of Pre-K math skills, it's important to understand the specific foundation skills preschool-level children need to know.

What math skills should Pre-K students be learning?

Taking into consideration child development and what skills children need to know and when, Get Set for School® by Learning Without Tears is a developmentally appropriate, child friendly curriculum that provides teachers with easy-to-follow lessons and materials that will engage and entice children to learn and play.

We understand the importance of building a strong foundation of ALL skills for ALL preschool children. Get Set for School is a complete curriculum with math being just one of the core learning areas. All learning areas are intentionally designed to be developmentally appropriate.

Below, you’ll find the core skills taught in the daily Get Set for School math lessons. While all these areas are important for math development, the first two, Number & Operations and Geometry, are foundational to future math learning. Therefore, they are a fundamental part of many Get Set for School math lessons. Numbers & Operations is basically “number sense,” which has been shown to be the building block for all other math skills. These skills encourage children to think flexibly and promote confidence with numbers and solving problems. Let’s take a closer look:

Numbers & Operations

Pre-K children develop number sense, investigate relationships among numbers, and explore the properties of numbers. Children know numbers in a practical way long before they do math activities. They know that they have one mouth and two hands before they recognize 1 and 2. They know that they want more, even before they know the word “more.” What we teach children in Number & Operations are words and symbols for what they already know, while expanding their basic ideas about numbers to a solid understanding of quantities.

Geometry

Geometry is the study of shapes and space. When children play on the playground, they begin to learn words to describe where they are (e.g., on the ladder, under the slide). Children should build their vocabulary with position words through songs, games, and activities. They also play, build, and explore with shapes. In Pre-K, children can move beyond simple identification of shapes to understand each shape’s characteristics.

Patterns & Algebra

Algebra is an area of math that uses symbols, letters, and patterns to solve problems. Children love to notice and make patterns. Seeing and extending patterns help children build observation, thinking, and problem-solving skills. Simple repetitive patterns and even simple growing patterns can be explored with young children. Pattern activities build the foundation for understanding more complex mathematical patterns in the future.

Measurement & Time

Measurement is determining the size or amount of something. Young children acquire these skills through measuring objects themselves. Children can experience measuring by making direct comparisons between objects, comparing objects using nonstandard units, such as paper clips or straws, and comparing objects using standard units. They learn to measure with nonstandard units first to prepare them to work with standard units in the future. When Pre-K children learn about time, they think about general times of day and what happens in their lives at those times.

Data Representation & Probability

Data representation activities help children organize information (answers to questions) in a visual way. They are a good way to connect questions in children’s real worlds with numbers. Pictographs can be created in response to almost any Pre-K question, such as favorite ice cream or number of pets. Probability helps us answer questions about our world about the likelihood of future events. It helps children make sense of their day and world.

Understanding what to teach preschool children is very important. But then how do we teach, what materials do we use, and how do we set up appropriate lessons?

Get Set for School Math Activities for Pre-K

Math makes sense to children when they have hands-on experience with it! Therefore, in the Pre-K classroom, math needs to be hands-on, multisensory, engaging, and fun!

The following math activities highlight just a few of the math products available from Get Set for School. Lessons incorporating these products are included in the complete Get Set for School curriculum, and each product also comes with its own activity booklet. Use these products for teacher directed instruction, but they are also perfect for child-led discovery play, too!

A set of number booklets, one for each number 1–10, helps children develop number sense with finger plays, songs, rhymes. Each child has their own set of booklets full of coloring activities and numeral tracing.

Sample Activity from I Know My Numbers (Booklet #6): (Download a sample)
- Take 6 small condiment cups and 6 caps: What can you do? Count, teach on/in, up/down, etc.

Activity 2. 4 Squares More Squares®

Bring geometry to life as children slide, turn, and flip colorful sturdy rubber pieces. Children can also sort, sequence, pattern, solve puzzles, and develop spatial awareness. (Download a sample)

Activity 3. Tag Bags®

Children will eagerly engage with these colorful bags as they identify numerals, sort, match, measure, pattern, and build! Each bag has a fastener that they open/close to foster fine motor skills. (Download a sample)

Activity 4. Mix & Make Shapes™

Mix & Make Shapes are brightly colored foam pieces that invite children to sort, trace, transform, and move shapes as they learn about shape properties, size, and much more. (Download a sample)

Activity 5. 1-2-3 Touch & Flip Cards®

These tactile, double-sided cards entice children to trace and name numbers, count, and sequence. The “flip" feature helps students check their work! (Download a sample)

Activity 6. Sing, Sound & Count with Me Album (Check out our music samples page)

With this music album, children learn language and number concepts as they move and play to upbeat songs that reinforce your instruction.

Specific math songs: 5 Fingers Play, Shape Song, Counting Candles, Pattern Dance, Counting at the Table, Big Numbers, The Ants Go Marching, and Counting, Counting.
When you sing math songs, add visuals and/or objects to count to enhance learning.

Teaching Tip: Make it Cross-Curricular

Although we need to teach math concepts explicitly, it is also important to help children understand that math happens everywhere! This can be done easily when we are intentional with typical classroom and play activities. In fact, one of the most powerful teaching strategies is to integrate or blend math into other subjects (reading, art, science, snack and line up time, on the playground, etc.). This helps children understand that math is functional, and numbers, shapes, and patterns happen every day in the real world.

Get Set for Math and Beyond

Get Set for School provides child-friendly and developmentally appropriate tools and support, allowing both preschool students and teachers to be successful and excited about learning. View our complete selection of Numbers and Math products available to support development in all foundational math areas. If you are looking for more developmentally appropriate programming beyond math, check out our complete Get Set for School curriculum, which focuses on all the core learning areas necessary in preschool: Numbers & Math, Readiness & Writing, Language & Literacy, Oral Language, and Science & Social Studies.

Don’t forget to check out our teacher and OT training workshops and webinars to help teachers feel more equipped and confident. Happy teaching!

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Preschool mathematics. Getting ready for school

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Unique educational series "Smart cards" - now also for preschoolers 5+!
The Preschool Math set contains 32 large cardboard cards with tasks to prepare for school. The game set will introduce the child to numbers, counting within the first and second ten, inequalities, arithmetic examples, geometric shapes and solids, as well as abstract quantities.
The set is designed for group and individual lessons with children from 3 years old, includes rules and guidelines.

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Book “Preschool Mathematics. Getting ready for school" is available in the online store "Chitay-gorod" at an attractive price. If you are in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Rostov-on-Don or any another region of Russia, you can place an order for a book “Preschool Mathematics. Getting ready for school" and choose a convenient way to receive it: pickup, delivery by courier or sending mail. To make buying books even more pleasant for you, we regularly hold promotions and contests.

Math for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old

Here you can find a lot of useful materials on the topic "Math for children for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old", which you can print on a printer and engage with children, both at home and in preschool and school institutions. With the help of our article 11 best activities for learning numbers from one to ten, you can teach numbers and counting to a child of any age. Learning math in a playful way is a very interesting activity even for those children who do not show much love for learning. Also, such tasks are great for little fidgets who cannot sit in one place for 5 minutes. Each game task is designed for a younger child - it is designed in such a way that the child does not get tired, and at the same time receives a useful portion of knowledge and skills. The main thing is not to solve all the tasks at once, only one at a time!

Mathematics for children 4, 5, 6, 7 years old - choose a section for learning

Mathematics for children is presented in several sections, each of which develops certain skills in teaching a child. For example, counting up to 10 and 20 is intended for children who are learning to count objects, but still do not know numbers well and do not know how to solve mathematical expressions. In the section with tasks in mathematics, more complex tasks are presented, in which examples, tasks, and various tasks for adding, subtracting, dividing the number of objects into equal parts, etc. can be found. In tasks with geometric shapes, children will get acquainted with the shapes and names of geometric shapes, perform simple tasks to consolidate the learned material. Also, tasks with mathematical signs (greater than, less than, equals sign) are given separately.

In this section, we learn to count to 10 with fun picture activities for preschoolers. Learning to count in a playful way is a very interesting activity even for those children who do not show much love for learning.

Here we learn to count up to 20 by doing interesting game tasks in pictures. The tasks below are suitable for children who have already mastered counting up to 10 and are starting to learn counting up to 20.

Here are interesting and colorful math tasks in pictures for children who are preparing for school or studying in 1st grade. Assignments can be very useful for teachers in kindergartens and elementary schools to teach children about mathematical expressions more effectively.

Geometric shapes for children - Interesting tasks

Here you can download and print geometric shapes for children in the form of interesting tasks in pictures, the implementation of which will not only benefit the child, but also a lot of fun.

Numbers for children in various designs are presented here - numbers in the form of flowers, three-dimensional, gold, with various textures, ice, puzzle numbers, as well as simple numbers in black and red.

Mathematical signs and symbols - Picture tasks

Learn math signs and symbols with fun picture activities. By completing tasks, the child will learn to distinguish between greater than and less than signs, as well as plus, minus and equal signs.

Pre school math

Preschool Math Activities - Stay at Home Educator